Christian and pro-life businessman Michael Clark says he’s looking to be the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, bringing change to the party.
Clark has secured the $350,000 needed to put his name in and is working on getting the required 300 signatures from Liberal Party members.
He has said he is running on two policies, including bringing pro-life views back to the Liberal Party.
“This is not a fringe belief,” he said about pro-life ideology in the Liberal Party. “Many Canadians consider themselves pro-life,” Clark said in a campaign video posted to the X platform.
Clark says that the party has been taken too far left, abandoning the centralist tradition.
It’s one of the changes Clark will make if elected, he said.
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“I believe that we need to take drastic measures to restore this amazing brand, restore the Liberal Party to a respectable place in this country.”
His leadership campaign platform includes a promise to change Trudeau’s 2014 prohibition on pro-life Canadians running as candidates for the Liberal Party.
In 2014, Trudeau said that pro-life members of the party would be required to vote pro-choice.
He said the Liberal Party would be “resolutely pro-choice” and candidates would be weeded out based on their position on issues, like abortion.
Clark says he is looking to bring the party back to its centralist roots, and allow diversity of viewpoints and debates on issues like abortion and euthanasia.
He said he is also ready to handle U.S. tariffs, which President Donald Trump has said could come as soon as Feb. 1.
“If elected as Liberal leader and Prime Minister, I will quickly solve the looming Trump tariff crisis by meeting with the President and laying out a plan to stop illegal drugs and illegal migrants crossing our border into the U.S.,” Clark said.
“That’s what the President requested to avert tariffs, and I believe we can easily solve the problem by collaborating with law enforcement and security experts on both sides of the border. There’s no reason this can’t be done.”
Clark said other issues he would tackle include cutting taxes, foreign aid, the Online News Act, and Bill C6, “An Act to amend the Criminal Code.”
He said he would put a moratorium on MAID and immigration to allow for discussion and planning.
Clark said he would also examine Canada’s involvement in global organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO).
“I would immediately remove us … from these affiliations where we’re sending millions of dollars and they’re telling us what to do, how to do things in our country,” Clark said in the video.
He also said he would return Canada to a merit-based system and defund DEI and woke program funding.
“I actually do believe we’re entering a prosperous time in human history. This is a great time to be alive. I’m very excited.”
Other ideas he proposed were to create charter schools, have an open-door policy as prime minster, to tackle homelessness, the housing crisis, and crime.
Clark has until 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 23 to collect enough signatures and pay the $50,000 deposit to include his name on the ballot.
Other leadership candidates include former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, former Government House Leader Karina Gould, Liberal MP Chandra Arya, Liberal MP Jaime Battiste, former Liberal MP Frank Baylis, and former Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla.
Carney, Freeland, and Arya have already filed their paperwork and paid the deposit.
Trudeau announced on Jan. 6 he would be stepping down from his position as soon as a new leader was chosen, which the Liberal Party says will be March 9.
On the same day Trudeau stepped down, he requested that Parliament be prorogued until March 24.
It is expected that opposition parties will move a vote of no confidence shortly after Parliament resumes, bringing the government down.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
